Accelerating Implementation of Transportation Research Results (2014)

Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

CONTENTS 1 SUMMARY 5 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Purpose and Scope, 5 Definitions, 6 Literature Review and Data Sources, 8 Report Organization, 9 10 CHAPTER TWO FACTORS AFFECTING THE USE, TIMING, AND EASE OF IMPLEMENTATION Introduction, 10 Key Factors, 10 17 CHAPTER THREE CASE EXAMPLES AND PRACTICE DESCRIPTIONS Network of Implementation Experts—National Implementation Research Network, 17 Global Implementation Conference, 19 Manufacturing Extension Partnerships, National Institutes of Standards and Technology, 20 Research Project Synopses, Joint Fire Science Program, 22 Partnership Intermediaries—Resources Committed to Implementation Processes, 22 Well-Defined and Documented Implementation Processes—Manager’s Guide, Desk Reference, Policies and Procedures, Implementation Guide, 24 Research, Document, and Share Successful Implementation Strategies—Accelerating Innovation at Hewlett–Packard, 24 Technology Readiness Levels, 26 Entrepreneur-in-Residence Programs, 29 Innovation Inducement Prizes, 31 Evidence-Based Practice Scholars Program, 32 Training for Implementation, 33 Organizational Implementation Policy, 35 Research Transition Teams, 38 40 CHAPTER FOUR REPLICATION AND TRANSFERABILITY OF IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES AND PRACTICES Transferability of the Environment to Aid Acceleration of Implementation, 40 Transferability of the Strategies and Practices, 42 50 CHAPTER FIVE CONCLUSIONS AND OBSERVATIONS FOR GOING FORWARD Summary of Current State of Practice, 50 Key Factors That Can Accelerate the Timing or Ease Implementation of Success, 51 Summary of Case Examples and Practice Descriptions, 51 Observations for Going Forward, 52 54 REFERENCES 58 BIBLIOGRAPHY 60 WEBSITES

61 APPENDIX A INTERVIEW PROTOCOLS 63 APPENDIX B INTERVIEWEES Note: Many of the photographs, figures, and tables in this report have been converted from color to grayscale for printing. The electronic version of the report (posted on the web at www.trb.org) retains the color versions.

SUMMARY ACCELERATING IMPLEMENTATION OF TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RESULTS This synthesis examines the processes used by public-sector nontransportation agen- cies and others (nonprofits, academia) for accelerating implementation of research results. The report identifies factors and actions that can be applied to further advance implementation processes and accelerate the implementation of research results for transportation applications. Although there have been many successes in implementing important processes and products in transportation applications, there is room for improvement in every aspect of implementation—the time, the methods and procedures, the types and availability of resources, the innovation climate and culture, the organizational leadership, and more. A comprehensive literature review of U.S. and some international sources was con- ducted to establish background information on the range of practices that have been, and are now being, pursued regarding implementation of research results within the private sector and public-sector agencies. Information was gathered from the websites of govern- ment and academic and nonprofit organizations as well as through telephone interviewing of research scientists and implementation experts. The study report includes a listing of websites and a bibliography providing sources for further investigation and reading. Key factors that affect the implementation of research results are identified. A majority of key factors affecting the use, timing, and ease of implementation will be familiar to the highway community. Many organizations have implementation activities that are being done at some level or by pockets of research managers in the highway arena. The synthesis provides a group of factors that are used by government, the private sector, academia, and nonprofit user associations. Factors discussed are applicable across the broad perspective of technology and research results implementation and can be effective regardless of the context in which they occur. The key factors affecting implementation success in contexts other than the transportation community are summarized here. No one activity in the examined broad array of implementation processes stands out as being the ultimate solution—the must-do action—to accelerate implementation of research results. Rather it is generally a combination of approaches and strategies that foster success and speed the implementing organization’s realization of benefit. Using more strategies to produce greater acceptance and using innovations are considered more beneficial than using only a few strategies. Additionally, few if any organizations experiencing success in speeding research results to practice can definitively identify what specific strategy or pro- cess is attributable to that success, or the amount of acceleration experienced. Furthermore, many organizations, while successful at increasing implementation over time, consider any added strategies as beneficial to increasing the rate of implementation. Contexts vary for accelerating the application of research results. Public-sector, aca- demic, and private-sector organizations are different frameworks in which application to

2 practice is generated or occurs. While timing, resources, and other external factors vary, many of the processes used are applicable across the various contexts. Availability of resources and implementation infrastructure maturity and are critical fac- tors that foster and speed implementation success. Organizational resources of adequate funding, expertise—both technical and of implementation professionals—and time to accomplish the implementation are essential. Furthermore, organizations that have mature infrastructures—processes, organizational structure, and cultures that create acceptance of change in practice—continue to show success in being able to effectively and efficiently apply research results. Incentives to do a more effective job of implementation often work to foster and speed application of research results. Recognition of the results and benefits of change in practice are useful means to bring attention to the process of implementation and to encourage more implementation activity. Although many processes benefit from using well-crafted effectiveness measures, few, if any, measurement systems for speeding implementation were found in the literature. To illustrate the importance of these factors and to provide examples of implementation strategies that could serve as models for transportation practice, a series of implementation case examples and practice descriptions are discussed. These are: • Network of Implementation Experts—National Implementation Research Network (NIRN)—an example of the types of resources available for implementation assis- tance within the medical clinical community. The mission of NIRN is to close the gap between science and service by improving the science and practice of implementation in relation to evidence-based programs and practices. • Global Implementation Conference—Hosting such a conference shows the value of creating a unique venue to encourage advancement of the science and practice of implementation. Such venues promote sharing of best practices, provide education and training for the implementation sciences, and foster research to further expertise and practice. • Manufacturing Extension Partnerships (MEP), National Institutes of Standards and Technology—MEP shows a significant commitment by the federal government to nur- ture and foster innovation, and particularly to accelerate the application of technology in manufacturing through strong partnership activity. This example shows a structure that creates partnerships that foster the development of products available to private- sector business through technology acceleration support, and examples of a framework to provide technical support to organizations seeking to accelerate the use of technol- ogy to advance practice. • Research Project Synopses, Joint Fire Science Program (JFSP)—This discussion shows the benefit JFSP received as it created and now uses research project synopses and manager opinion articles to convey critical research findings to busy program and senior managers within the forest fire safety community. • Partnership Intermediaries—Resources Committed to Implementation Processes— Partnership Intermediary Agreements (PIAs) allow research programs to add targeted expertise to the job of implementation through specific partnership arrangements. PIAs were created through legislation for use by federal laboratories and can serve as a model for agreements by others not in the federal laboratory community. • Well-Defined and Documented Implementation Processes—Manager’s Guide, Desk Reference, Policies and Procedures, and Implementation Guide—Various agencies are excellent examples of how implementation processes can be documented in a practical and rational fashion.

3 • Research, Document, and Share Successful Implementation Strategies—Accelerating Innovation at Hewlett-Packard—This discussion shows the process used by a private- sector organization to speed its products to market. It shows the importance of con- sidering the technology characteristics, the newness of the market, the degree of innovation represented, as well as the necessity to benefit from lessons learned and the importance of directly addressing innovation barriers and enablers. What is par- ticularly noteworthy is that Hewlett-Packard performed research to gain new knowl- edge and understanding of its research implementation processes. • Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs)—TRLs are a standard readiness scale used to determine the maturity of a technology or innovation. This scale helps an organization consider innovations and research results application through a systematic process that advances with the level of readiness. The process fosters acceleration of implementa- tion by addressing problems and finding solutions to prevent downstream delays. • Entrepreneur-in-Residence Programs—The Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program is an initiative that aims to commercialize viable technologies by placing venture capi- tal firms or those with funding in a position to work directly with academic partners or others developing innovations. This program models how the addition of entrepre- neurial talent, with the purpose of creating a market or use for a research finding, can make a significant impact on the speed of application to practice. • Innovation Inducement Prizes—These are designed to attain scientific and technical goals not yet reached, to encourage fostering of innovation, and particularly to create motivation to excel in implementation best practices. • Evidence-Based Practice Scholars Program—This program is an example of how the medical clinical community highlighted the importance of developing expertise in implementation science to increase the likelihood and speed of the application of proven research results to practice. • Training for Implementation—Coupled with other strategies such as a strong imple- mentation infrastructure, this discussion shows the advantages of building capacity in the organization to sufficiently address the tasks of implementation. • Organizational Implementation Policy—This practice description discusses the need for and benefits of developing a workable organizational policy that clearly articulates the vision and goals for implementation of research results to benefit operational practice. The discussion provides an example policy created by the National Weather Service. • Research Transition Teams (RTTs)—RTTs are formalized teams created to facilitate rapid transition from research to application of results in the operational setting. The teams are comprised of research and technical experts as well as implementation experts and address technical, organizational, administrative, and other barriers or enablers. In summary, there are effective strategies being used by other domains that can increase the potential for accelerating the adoption of research results in transportation. Many of the tactics being used by other domains are also used, to some degree, within the transporta- tion community. However, these accelerator tactics will be significantly more effective if an overall systematic approach to implementation exists. This approach includes (1) a sustainable infrastructure of experienced talent, (2) sufficient resources operating in an organizational setting, and (3) a leadership priority on implementation. Such an integrated approach will enable greater opportunity to realize benefits from research and to accelerate the use of research results and innovations in transportation practice.